Metropolitan Styling: Figurines from London and Colchester
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Metropolitan styling: figurines from London and Colchester Book or Report Section Accepted Version Durham, E. (2016) Metropolitan styling: figurines from London and Colchester. In: Hoss, S. and Whitmore, A. (eds.) Small Finds and Ancient Social Practices in the Northwest Provinces of the Roman Empire. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 75-97. ISBN 9781785702563 Available at http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/82556/ It is advisable to refer to the publisher’s version if you intend to cite from the work. See Guidance on citing . Publisher: Oxbow Books All outputs in CentAUR are protected by Intellectual Property Rights law, including copyright law. Copyright and IPR is retained by the creators or other copyright holders. Terms and conditions for use of this material are defined in the End User Agreement . www.reading.ac.uk/centaur CentAUR Central Archive at the University of Reading Reading’s research outputs online Author’s Original Manuscript – Postprint This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published as: Durham, E. (2016) ‘Metropolitan styling: figurines from London and Colchester’, in S. Hoss and A. Whitmore (eds), Small Finds and Ancient Social Practices in the Northwest Provinces of the Roman Empire, Oxbow Books, Oxford, 75–97 ISBN 978-1-78570-256-3 Metropolitan Styling. Metal figurines from London and Colchester Emma Durham London and Colchester have produced the two largest collections of metal figurines from Roman Britain, including a number of types which are not found anywhere else in the province. As one might expect, these assemblages are varied in both composition and style, reflecting the religious and artistic life of Roman London and Colchester. There are particular differences in the proportions of certain deities such as Apollo and Harpocrates, and in the patterns of deposition within the two cities which reflect differing populations and styles of worship. This paper will discuss the composition and distribution of the two assemblages, and then examine a particular group, those associated with the worship of deities of Eastern origin such as Isis and Harpocrates. The composition of the assemblages The 87 metal figurines from Greater London form the largest group from any single site in Britain, and represent 8.8% of the entire British assemblage (Durham 2012). An additional eight figurines which have been found in the Greater London area are also considered here (but not included in Table 1) as they are all located on or near roads leading out from the city. The collection from Colchester is somewhat smaller, consisting of 50 figurines (5% of the whole assemblage) from the immediate area of the Roman town. A further ten come from locations outside the town, including three figurines from the Lexden tumulus, one from Gosbecks Farm and three from the temple at the Royal Grammar School. The types represented in the groups from London and Colchester are listed in Table 1. There are multiple examples of some classical deities such as Hercules, Mars, Mercury and Minerva, but only single representatives of other less popular deities. The cosmopolitan nature of the London population is emphasised by the presence of imported ‘genre’ pieces such as gladiators. In addition there is a variety of birds and animals, many of which are associated with particular deities, such as the cockerel and goat with Mercury. Figure 1. Hercules figurines. a. Durham 2012, no. 86 from Colchester (with kind permission of Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service, accn no. COLEM 1936.900); b. Durham 2012, no. 1045 (with kind permission of the Museum of London, accn no. 2076); c. Durham 2012, no. 1064 (with kind permission of the Museum of London, accn no. 59.94/39) Hercules The two most common deities among the Roman figurines from London and Colchester are Hercules and Mercury, who were also the most popular deities in the rest of Britain as well as Gaul (Boucher 1976). Hercules forms the largest single group among the male deities from London, while he is second to Mercury at Colchester. Two probably imported figures are an archer from Queen Street, Cheapside (Henig 1995a, 81; Durham 2012, no. 169) and, from a mid-first century context at Swan Street, Southwark, a seated Hercules with a lion skin draped over his left arm and shoulder (Beasley 2006, 33, fig. 9.11; Durham 2012, no. 816; Wardle unpublished report). One of the most common depictions of Hercules shows him with his left arm outstretched and draped in a lion skin while his right arm is raised and holds a club (Fig. 1a). Six figurines from London and all five Hercules figurines from Colchester (Durham 2012, nos 84–88) show him in this stance. There are three further examples of Hercules from London — two (nos 714 and 1045) depict him as a clean-shaven youth with his right hand resting on his hip and the left arm outstretched and draped with a lionskin (Fig. 1b). One (no. 1064) depicts Hercules standing with his right foot resting against the left calf (Fig. 1.c). He wears a cap and holds a club in his left hand and a two-handled cup in the right. This is the only example of a Hercules in this style in Britain, but there is another standing Hercules holding a club and cup from Gaul (Rolland 1965, pl. 105). Mercury Mercury is the second most common figurine type in London, but forms the largest group in Colchester. He is usually shown standing, wearing a petasos or with wings springing directly from his head, often with drapery over his left shoulder and arm and holding a purse in his right hand. Like Hercules, the style and quality of production varies from highly classical forms through varying degrees of stylised examples (Durham 2012, nos 9 and 43). There are also two examples of Mercury wearing a petasos, fully draped with a purse in his right hand and a caduceus in his left (Durham 2012, no. 36 from East India House, London; Crummy 2006, 60, 67, fig. 29 no. 4, pl. 6; Durham 2012, no. 1041 from St Mary’s Hospital, Colchester). The final form of Mercury depicts him reclining with patera in his right hand and caduceus in his left (Durham 2012 no. 35). The figurine from London is the only example of this form in Britain. In addition to the figurines of Mercury, three caducei have been recovered from the temple at St Mary’s Hospital in Colchester (Durham 2012, nos 1038, 1039 and 1040). Apollo Figurines of Apollo are not found in any great number in Britain, but there are four definite and two possible examples from London. No figurines of Apollo have been found in Colchester. Identification of Apollo can be difficult as he often lacks obvious attributes, but he is generally depicted as a nude, youthful, standing male, such as two examples from the Thames (Durham 2012, nos 11 and 18). One of two figurines which have been published as Mercury but could be Apollo is a fragmentary figure wearing only a baldric and holding an object against his left side (Green 1976, 224 no. 63; Pitts 1979, 54 no. 26; Durham 2012, no. 39 from the Royal Exchange). Mars Mars is not common in either London or Colchester and is represented by only three figurines from London and one from Colchester. Two stylised pieces depict Mars in classical form with a helmet, short kilt, cuirass and greaves (Durham 2012 nos 23, 33). Of more interest is a figure which is similarly attired to the previous examples but depicted in a naïve style (Durham 2012, no. 24). It is the only example of a naïve figurine in London and is remarkably similar to an example from Tiel in the Netherlands (Jitta et al. 1969, 80 no. 33), which may suggest that the two come from the same workshop. The single Mars figurine from Colchester is a typically classical piece, but the execution is slightly stylised (Durham 2012, no. 26). It shows a nude Mars wearing a large crested helmet, with his right hand raised to hold a spear, and is the most common form of Mars in Britain. Other male deities The final male deities are both of the type that one would expect to find displayed in a family lararium. One is a togate Genius paterfamilias from London and the other two are Lares from Swan Lane, London and Colchester (Durham 2012, nos 113, 103 and 107). The Genius shows the fully draped male typical of these figurines. The Lares both depict a youth in a tunic with overfold and sash and are examples of the Lar Compitalis, a dancing figure associated with boundaries in Rome (Alcock 1986, 115). It is interesting that in such large groups there are only three examples of these family gods. As Alcock (ibid. 129) points out, the use of these figures in Britain would be associated with Roman concepts, and one cannot know how widespread the idea of Genius was, even among the more Romanised sections of society. Minerva In comparison with the 47 male deities from London and 20 from Colchester, only 12 figurines of female deities have been recovered from London and eight from Colchester, and among the female deities only Minerva and Venus are depicted in any number. London and Colchester are, in fact, the only sites in Britain from which more than one figurine of Minerva has been found. One example from Isleworth, Greater London is seated (Durham 2012, no. 119), while the five from within London itself and Colchester are standing and follow the conventions for the majority of Minerva figurines as they are dressed in long gowns, four have additional drapery and four also wear the aegis and Corinthian helmet (Fig.